Chapter 263 - Chapter 262: The One Possessing a Curse
The 1st Month of Wind, the 2nd Week, Day of Wind.
Summoned by Academy Director Maurice, I was immediately taken to Viscount Mumbaro's mansion.
Riding in a carriage, I went with Maurice.
Apparently, the Crown Prince had an urgent matter.
Removal of rubble had progressed on the major streets within the capital, and carriages could now pass through.
However, they could not be used freely yet.
Only a select few with permission were allowed to use them.
Because of this, Cleiria's commute to school was still by running.
Recently, she seemed to have grown fond of running to school, saying things like "Should we continue like this?"
The guard knights waiting behind her had faces twisted in grimaces.
The attack by the composite monster Chimera, which caused major damage within the capital, affected only District 2 and District 3.
District 1 suffered absolutely no damage.
Gazing at the townscapes of District 1, which remained completely unchanged, I couldn't help but think.
If you were going to attack anyway, you should have attacked District 1.
I didn't really care what happened to the nobles.
For Mika, it was deeply regrettable that while residents suffered massive casualties, the nobles themselves were not directly harmed.
If anything, we should have caught the Chimera in District 2 and tossed it into District 1.
...I'm not thinking such things, okay? I wouldn't even think of it, yes.
While thinking such things, we arrived at the mansion.
"Thanks to you, many people were truly saved. I am grateful."
The Crown Prince, who had arrived first and was waiting, offered seats to Mika and said this.
"I've heard that many times already. You don't need to say it so much."
Mika couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.
He had said this even when Mika barged into the Crown Prince's room to petition for aid.
The Crown Prince could not do anything directly himself, but he worked with ministers and others to fulfill Mika's requests.
Thanks to that, aid for the victims proceeded quite smoothly.
Of course, not everything went well, and this did not mean all victims received aid.
Still, many people were saved thanks to the Crown Prince's intercession.
There were many things that could only be done because the Crown Prince assisted in areas beyond Mika's power.
"So, what is the reason for the summons today?"
When Maurice asked about the reason for the summons, the Crown Prince made a difficult face.
"Regarding that matter, Maurice. First, your case has been dropped."
"Hai. I am grateful for your lenient disposition."
Morse bowed his head to the Crown Prince.
Maurice's case?
What is that about?
"Academy Director, did you do something bad?"
When Mika asked that, the Crown Prince and Maurice exchanged awkward expressions.
It was written all over their faces: "Don't lump me in with you."
"Maurice was under consideration for punishment due to exceeding his authority. ...Well, taking the results of that judgment into account, this time it has been dropped, but it was very close."
"I understand."
Exceeding authority?
"What did you do to exceed your authority?"
"You did it, you know..."
At Mika's words, the Crown Prince looked exasperated.
"Unilaterally mobilizing academy students constitutes exceeding authority. Many people were saved by the [Heal] magic the students could use, but the Academy Director does not have the authority to make such judgments. Without an order from the Minister of Military Affairs, mobilizing academy students is not permitted."
"Ahh! Ahh..."
Now that you mention it, that's true.
Orders regarding academy students were taught in class.
Only the Minister of Military Affairs holds that authority.
Formally, even the King cannot directly order academy students.
Well, the King can order the Minister of Military Affairs, so they could cover it up afterwards.
"Luckily, nothing happened to the students, and the significance of the mobilization was great. There was also the situation that waiting for orders would only lead to expanding casualties. Furthermore, even the situation where transmitting orders was difficult existed. Considering these factors, this was a special measure."
"Nothing happened...?"
Mika couldn't help but look at Maurice's face.
Maurice also raised one eyebrow, looking at Mika.
"That is how it stands."
It seems Basal's severe injuries were concealed.
How dirty!
"It was my judgment. I cannot afford to lose Maurice right now."
The Crown Prince said to Mika, who was glaring at Maurice.
It seems Maurice did not hide and report it himself; rather, the Crown Prince decided to conceal it.
"Few people could make decisions during such an emergency. You are one of them, and everyone did their best. I do not wish to blame them for that."
Knowing the weight of exceeding authority, they still had no choice but to move.
Indeed, even from Mika's perspective, Maurice's decision was admirable.
If casualties among the students occurred, he was prepared to take appropriate responsibility, and that was when Maurice decided to "move."
It became a so-called 'result is all that matters,' but since it went well, the Crown Prince decided to accept it as such.
Thus, Maurice was sent back first, and the room was cleared of others.
Only the Crown Prince, the old knight guarding him, and Mika remained in the room.
I wanted to leave too...
"Do not speak of this to anyone yet."
After emphasizing this, he got to the reason for summoning Mika.
"The Gronoir army seems to have moved."
"Haa... So it came after all."
Troublesome things keep happening at troublesome timings.
I couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"Regarding this attack, regardless of the perpetrator, it is certain that someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes, and that is undoubtedly Gronoir."
The Crown Prince seems to read this incident as imperial sabotage.
There is no evidence showing a direct connection.
Still, only the Empire would openly act so hostilely toward the Kingdom.
"Is there no possibility of a third faction or others?"
"There is, of course. But fixating on possibilities and turning a blind eye to the biggest obstacle right in front of us is pointless. At the very least, it is impossible to say there is absolutely no connection. They could be infiltrated within Gronoir, allied as anti-kingdom factions, or using Gronoir. However, whatever the connection may be, first and foremost, it is Gronoir."
Indeed, it can be said that the Empire is the biggest problem.
Whether other factions exist or not, we should deal with them after eliminating the threat of the Empire.
The thought is that third factions whose existence is unknown can be dealt with later once their existence becomes clear.
That's either muscle-brained thinking or the mindset of an absolute powerhouse.
Even if the covert activities of a third faction cause some additional damage, ultimately, all enemies will be crushed.
For those who become sacrifices due to this expanded damage, emotionally, it is hard to nod in agreement.
"The reason I summoned you is to confirm how you will act against Gronoir's re-invasion. That is the confirmation."
"How will I act?"
There is nothing to act; I don't want to do anything.
"............Has the country said anything?"
When Mika asked that, the Crown Prince shook his head.
"Since the previous battle is still on hold, they will not order anything of you. Well, I did receive a query from Dedoderic."
The Crown Prince seems to think that since Mika's punishment is suspended, he will not order anything.
However, a query?
"Um, was it the Prime Minister? Did he say something?"
"He didn't exactly say anything; he just asked, 'What are Mika Noisheim's intentions?' I answered that I could not know unless I asked him personally. That is why I am asking this way."
It seems the Crown Prince intends to respect Mika's will, at least to some extent.
Mika twisted his mouth into a frown and hesitated.
"Does Your Highness have any intention of ordering me?"
"If I order, will you obey?"
"....................................I would like to consider it..."
At Mika's bitter expression, the Crown Prince grinned.
The old knight waiting behind turned away, lowered his head, and shook his shoulders.
Even if you lower your head, it's completely visible!
The Crown Prince looked at Mika with a somewhat serious face.
"It is known that Gronoir will use [Divine Wrath] again. If you assist, I believe we can repel it. However..."
After saying that, the Crown Prince took a breath.
"I do not intend to leave you in such an unstable position. I have secretly secured the consent of many ministers and the Prime Minister. I will not allow the suspension to be revoked, nor will I allow you to be punished."
He said it with conviction.
...Well, they probably don't want to throw away their combat strength without reason.
However, securing consent is also an unsettling matter.
Verbal promises can be broken at any time.
Are they exchanging signed letters of guarantee?
Wait a minute...
The Crown Prince is concerned about Mika's unstable position of suspended punishment.
Therefore, he takes a stance to protect Mika's position until the punishment is officially lifted.
He acts as a breakwater for Mika in the form of "under the Crown Prince's custody."
This puts the country in a state where they cannot order Mika anything.
In other words, if things continue like this, they cannot order "Go to the battlefield for a bit."
Mika smiled brightly.
"Please do not overdo it. I cannot accept being punished, but there is no need to forcibly revoke the suspension. Maintaining the current situation is sufficient."
"It cannot be done that way. I intend to persuade His Majesty somehow. I cannot take overly aggressive measures, but still—"
"No, no, no, really! Don't force yourself! I beg you!"
When Mika bowed his head and begged like that, the Crown Prince made a troubled face.
"......Well, if you say so, I will refrain from making large moves for now."
"Yes. It is not advisable to anger His Majesty too much. It is sufficient if you can just prevent the punishment from being issued."
"Understood. ...I am sorry for making you worry."
I don't think I worried you at all.
It is 100% self-preservation.
Thus, we discussed things like "we might intervene in the battlefield again if necessary" or "if intervening, wouldn't it be better to do it from the beginning?"
As expected, no matter how optimistically one thinks, it is certain that Gronoir will use [Divine Wrath].
And it seems the Kingdom cannot get His Majesty's permission and will have to fight without [Divine Wrath] once again.
What do they think of the people's lives...
Because of His Majesty's obsession, how many tens of thousands of lives will be lost this time?
If it's like that, a rebellion might even start in the Kingdom.
That is what Mika was thinking.
■■■■■■
The 1st Month of Wind, the 3rd Week, Day of Sun.
Finally, Ozendorwa said he could spare time, so we gathered at a dilapidated house in District 3.
Mika, Yaroibarov, and Lebrantes, the concierge of the Information Broker Guild.
The master of the bar in District 4 was with us until just now, but he left before Ozendorwa arrived.
As expected, the executive of the Assassin Guild probably wanted to avoid sitting alongside a Knight Commander.
"...Probably, if we met face-to-face, we would be spotted immediately."
That is what Yusubart said.
Even though they are both underground occupations, Adelriese of the Underground Magic Tool Association might be overlooked, but surely an executive of the Assassin Guild cannot be let off.
"Sorry. I kept you waiting."
Ozendorwa, who entered the dilapidated house saying that, had slightly longer hair than usual and looked a bit thinner.
Due to the intense work over the past month, Ozendorwa, who originally had a sharp atmosphere, gave an even sharper impression.
It was like an action movie actor or something.
Mika stared at Ozendorwa's hair, and he let out a bitter smile.
"Sorry. I couldn't even go to get a haircut, and look at this state."
"No, it suits you quite well."
After talking about such trivial things for a while, we got to the main topic.
"Mika-kun, Yaroibarov. Thank you. It has become quite late, but thanks to your cooperation, we were able to minimize the damage."
"No... Rather, I was stunned by the magnitude of the damage. I thought there must have been something we could have done more."
"That's right. I thought I did what I could, but even so, I wanted to do a little more."
When Mika and Yaroibarov voiced their regrets, Ozendorwa shook his head.
"Of course, there is a limit to what can be done. More importantly, you two were the ones who cooperated. It is a fact that many people were saved, so you should be proud of that, not regretful. It was I who asked for your cooperation due to the lack of power of the Fifth Knights Order."
Indeed, both Mika and Yaroibarov were just ordinary people in terms of status.
Still, as those with power, they couldn't help but wish they could have done more.
"Yaroibarov asked other adventurers for cooperation through personal connections, and Mika-kun found the perpetrator. If not for the two of you, it would have ended with us just getting beaten."
"The Adventurer Guild wasn't reliable, you know. Thanks to Yaroibarov-san asking guests at the inn, skilled adventurers could move quickly."
Lebrantes added to Ozendorwa's story.
At that story, Mika made an awkward expression.
This time, Ozendorwa requested support from the Adventurer Guild at a very early stage.
It was at the same time he requested cooperation from Mika and the others.
However, the guild could not move.
Because the headquarters' decision never reached the branch.
Ozendorwa looked at Yaroibarov and curled the corner of his mouth.
"Many people were saved by the voluntary actions of the adventurers. The adventurers have been told various things until now, but our perception of them has completely changed."
Some adventurers drank during the day, got drunk, and caused trouble.
Because of that, they were looked down upon as a group called adventurers.
"Well, there are still some useless ones, but it is grateful that they understood that most are not like that."
Yaroibarov, who looked exactly like he was despised, let out a bitter smile.
If they knew he was an A-rank adventurer, it wouldn't be like that, but to those who didn't know Yaroibarov, judging by appearance, he seemed like "an adventurer who looks like he might have done something."
"So, what is the topic for today?"
When Mika asked that, Ozendorwa nodded.
"There are still many unknowns, but I thought we should share information on what we have found so far. ...Actually, I wanted to create an opportunity much earlier."
The Fifth Knights Order was also busy with reconstruction work and restoring public order, so they had no time for this.
Ozendorwa crossed his legs and explained briefly first.
"The report of the first Chimera appearing came from the Northeast Gate. Then the North Gate. And then the Northwest Gate."
"Moving counter-clockwise around District 3..."
At Yaroibarov's mutter, Ozendorwa nodded.
"And then, the next request for assistance came from the West Gate and District 2."
"West Gate and..."
"District 2?"
Yaroibarov and Mika exchanged glances.
Ozendorwa continued the explanation.
"In terms of simple distance, District 2 is much closer to the station. Well, due to the chaos within the capital, it is unknown how long it took to reach the station."
"Even discounting that, District 2 and the West Gate are too far apart."
At Mika's mutter, Yaroibarov nodded.
"That is correct. Therefore, we suspect there are at least two perpetrators this time."
"Two..."
It seems the one Mika caught was only one of them.
Caught, or rather, killed.
"Probably, one person released the Chimera moving counter-clockwise in District 3, and another person invaded District 2 to release the Chimera. They likely had role divisions like that."
"Damn it..."
Mika couldn't help but curse.
Was there another guy like this who pulled off such a stupid thing?
"And regarding the perpetrator Mika-kun found, it has been discovered that he possessed an illegal Magic Bag."
"Yes. ...In other words, there is a possibility it connects to Hibujiza and the red-haired youth Ecrease, right?"
When Mika confirmed, Ozendorwa nodded.
The Crown Prince suspected this attack was an attack by the Empire (Gronoir).
If this was an imperial attack, then the same organization or group must have attacked Mika as well.
Does the Empire harbor hostility toward Mika?
Why?
Being targeted by a country is enough for the Kingdom. Why do I have to be eyed by the Empire too...
Mika felt dejected and let out a sigh.
Then he buried his face in the table, banging his forehead against it.
"...Hey, are you okay? Your head."
That way of asking has various interpretations?
Mika ignored Yaroibarov's words and continued banging his head.
"You'll break the table."
Lebrantes seems worried about the table.
Damn it...
Ignoring Mika like that, Yaroibarov turned a stern gaze toward Ozendorwa.
"So, about the knight Chimera."
Mika sat up abruptly and rubbed his forehead.
Although he didn't see it clearly himself, it seems there was one among the Chimera that Yaroibarov and Basal fought wearing knight armor.
Asked by Yaroibarov, Ozendorwa also made a serious face.
"They are knights of the Fifth Knights Order. The ones... who went missing."
At that reply, everyone let out a sigh.
The body hidden by the armor was not human.
However, the head was human, and it seems the face could be clearly confirmed.
"...I thought it might be so."
For Yaroibarov, this was a prediction he wished had been wrong.
Four knight Chimera were confirmed.
And eleven knights went missing.
Netting seven, but...
"Probably, they are not alive anymore."
"Ahh..."
At Lebrantes' prediction, Yaroibarov nodded.
Using humans as materials for Chimera.
It is not thought that such things would succeed without failure.
Probably, only four succeeded while using all of them, which was the common view of the two.
Mika, feeling depressed, still made the necessary report.
"The perpetrator I killed, probably, was not human."
"............Huh?"
"Hmm?"
"What?"
At Mika's sudden remark, the three widened their eyes.
"First, the house was blown away by words alone. It was thrown into the sky by a sudden gust."
"............What is that?"
Yaroibarov frowned, making a suspicious face.
"His movements were also inhuman, but there was a decisive thing that proves he is not human."
"Not human...? What happened?"
Ozendorwa urged Mika to continue the story.
"It was a curse. That person himself became a cursed object, and it was a disgusting curse I had never seen before."
"A curse..."
At Lebrantes' mutter, Mika nodded.
"That curse had its own will. It moves, struggling."
"Sorry... I have absolutely no idea what that means."
Yaroibarov raised both hands, making a surrender pose.
Lebrantes asked with a difficult face.
"So, that curse..."
At that question, Mika shook his head.
"I tried to dispel it, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't dispel it. Still, there was a sense of progress, so I continued, but the Chimera interfered... and I got away."
"I see... However, it is understood that the curse took the action of escaping."
"Yes."
Hearing that story, Yaroibarov frowned and made a strange face.
"But? How do you see a curse? Well, a monk might have a special [Skill], but normally—"
"I usually can't see it either, but Fee can make it visible."
"Fee is the... that light sphere from before?"
"Yes, she is here now."
When Mika said that, his left shoulder glowed dimly.
Seeing that, everyone looked surprised for a moment.
"If I touch it, I can tell about the curse. But if Fee sees it, she can tell. Whether a curse is possessed or not."
Therefore, Mika made Fee stay as close as possible.
So that if someone possessing a curse was nearby, she would notify him.
When Mika said that, Ozendorwa pressed his temples.
But soon he turned serious eyes toward Mika.
"Buy Fee. Sell it to us."
"Understood."
The transaction was established.
Immediately, Fee flashed brightly and began blinking in protest.
Seeing that, Mika let out a bitter smile.
"She says she dislikes it."
"I see... What a pity."
Mika somehow soothed Fee, who continued blinking in protest.
Wouldn't renting it work?
"For now, there is no way to judge from appearance, but it seems certain that an illegal Magic Bag is a definite clue."
"That's right. If possible, it would be helpful if they could make it visible..."
Well, Fee is like a sudden mutation.
I don't know if catching other Fee companions would allow similar communication.
Mika put on a somewhat serious face and looked at Ozendorwa.
"This is just a possibility..."
"Yeah. What is it?"
At Mika's unusual atmosphere, Ozendorwa also tightened his expression.
"If the red-haired youth (Ecrease) is someone possessing a similar curse..."
""""!""""
At the one possibility Mika presented, everyone held their breath and fell silent.
The windows rattled with sound as the air grew stronger.
Thus, for a while, only the sound of the windows echoed in the room.
"............Ecrease, whose head was cut off..."
"Only the curse escaped...?"
"And then possessed Hibujiza?"
It seems everyone arrived at the same imagination.
"......We cannot confirm whether it can possess another human again."
"But this explains why Hibujiza's handwriting changed and why he has the same handwriting as Ecrease. It is an unbelievable story, though."
At Ozendorwa's words, Mika nodded.
"It is an absurd story. Please keep this to this place only."
"Ahh... If I told such a story to people, they would think, 'He's finally gone crazy.'"
"Haha..."
At Yaroibarov's comment, everyone let out a dry laugh.
"Lebrantes-san, please do not release this information until I, Yaroibarov-san, or Ozendorwa-san give the order. Until then, do not say anything."
"Why so much? Wouldn't it be better to share the information quickly?"
At Lebrantes' question, Mika shook his head.
"For now, the only way to identify the possessor is for me to touch or for Fee to see. In such a state, if suspicion is cast like 'You are cursed,' no one can prove their innocence."
People with the [Appraisal] [Skill] might be able to distinguish it.
However, if they happen to hit the mark, that appraiser is definitely dead.
Forcing the country to take on such a role is too pitiful.
More importantly, hearing such a story might make people suspicious.
If they become suspicious, they will start doubting over trivial things.
Doubt calls forth doubt, which turns into confusion.
If a group falls into confusion, it becomes frenzy.
A witch hunt might occur.
In this era where stress is applied by war with the Empire. With the worsening situation increasing stress, there is a possibility they will seek a simple scapegoat.
There is no guarantee that there won't be someone who tries to trap someone they dislike as a means to vent their frustration.
If Mika could clear the suspicion immediately, it would be fine, but when Mika is away from the capital, there is nothing he can do.
"We will judge the necessity of releasing the information. Until then, please keep the information. Ideally, we want to pretend this fact never existed."
When Mika said that, everyone nodded heavily.